1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the non-invasive diagnosis of conditions within a human or animal body and, more particularly, the invention relates to using gastric sounds to diagnose gastric motility dysfunction.
2. Description of Related Technology
One form of gastric motility dysfunction is delayed gastric emptying (DGE) which refers to an abnormal slowing of the emptying of gastric contents into the duodenum. DGE may result from structural lesions such as, for example, an ulcer, a neoplasm, an obstruction, etc. or may result from a motility disorder, which is commonly referred to as gastroparesis. Gastroparesis may be idiopathic or may result from diabetic gastropathy, scleroderma or other disorders. If untreated, gastroparesis may cause debilitation from nausea, vomiting, bloating, abdominal pain, weight loss and malnutrition. Other complications of gastroparesis such as malabsorption of medicines and glucose regulation difficulties in diabetic patients have been observed.
Symptoms of DGE vary and are often collectively referred to as dyspepsia. Symptoms of DGE include abdominal discomfort or pain, early satiety, distention, bloating, nausea, vomiting, belching and epigastric or retrosternal burning or pyrosis. Although the precise incidence of DGE is uncertain, the incidence of DGE may be estimated from the incidence of dyspeptic symptoms and from studies suggesting how often DGE is etiologic for dyspepsia. About 25% of adults experience dyspepsia on a regular basis and as many as 50% of gastrointestinal clinic patients suffer from dyspeptic symptoms. Although some patients with dyspepsia do not have DGE, DGE may underlie or contribute to dyspeptic symptoms in over 30% of these patients. In certain disease states, the incidence of DGE may be increased, especially long standing insulin-dependent diabetics for which the incidence of DGE typically ranges between about 27% and 58%.
The current techniques for diagnosing DGE include barium radiography, gastric and antroduodenal manometry, dilution methods, cutaneous electrogastrography and radionuclide gastric emptying scintigraphy. While gastric emptying scintigraphy is the most accurate technique for diagnosing DGE, this technique is expensive, involves radiation, is time consuming and is not readily portable. Many other known techniques for diagnosing DGE are of limited utility because of their low accuracy.